Soul Gazer
by Noelle la Marie
Summary: "You can never escape madness. the best you can do is fight it off for as long as you can, till your dieing breath." We have the meisters. We have the weapons. and yes, we have the witches too. read the continuing story of the DWMA. Click, and read Soul Gazer.
1. The dance of heros

Soul Gazer

Episode 1  
The dance of heroes,  
Zeus and Rizzo keepers of lightning.

A sound soul.  
Dwells within a sound mind  
And a sound body.

Legend tells of the great Grim Reaper, the lord of the departed, the God of Life… as well as Death. He and his comrades known as the Eight Powerful Warriors were the keepers of all things innocent and orderly in the world.  
Probably the most skilled and talented of the Eight was the dark weapon wielder, Asura and his weapon partner Vajra. Yet as time went on, the Eight began to realize how fragile Asura's soul really was, though they said nothing. Eventually, Asura himself began to realize this and tried with all his might to make himself and his weapon stronger.  
He began to take the souls of humans and gave them to Vajra in his sleep. Vajra became suspicious as he noticed his growing vulnerability to madness, as well as Asura's, but when he confronted Asura about it, he betrayed him and swallowed his weapon form whole.  
Enraged by his weapon's disloyalty, Asura went into a rampage. The Eight tried to stop him, but he ended up killing three of them and wounding the rest. Finally Lord Death had to step in. Though the battle was long and hard, Death became victorious over Asura, and locked him in a sack made of his own skin. For 800 years, Asura remained in this sack made of skin, until a foolish witch set him free once again.  
Fortunately, during those centuries, Lord Death opened the DWMA, an Academy for those who opposed Asura and the demons he created known as Kishins. One of the occupants of this school was Maka Albarn, the first-star scythe Meister, who led a team of Meisters and Weapons to victory over the King of Kishins.  
However, before he was defeated, Asura vowed that one day he would have a successor and the world would be engulfed in madness once again… that was twenty years ago. What about now?  
Lord Death: LET'S FIND OUT!

In the streets of Nyirbator, Hungary, a young lady was on the run for her life as she tried to escape from the murderous creature after her soul, however tainted it was. She was losing breath, and with every step she took she tried to remember what she did to deserve this. Finding several things, she began to pray to God for her safety. Meanwhile, the creature was about to close in on her prey.  
Finally, the woman couldn't take it anymore; she spotted a bridge up ahead and didn't think twice as she threw herself over the edge. The monster looked down from the bridge only to see an empty river.  
It was a thirty-foot drop; there was no way she could have survived that. The creature however was not satisfied; there was no sign of a body. Frustrated by losing her soul, the monster headed down the riverbank for a further search.  
The woman was hanging from a support pole under the bridge. Only when she heard the monster walk off the bridge did she let out a sigh of relief. Now the question was how she was going to get down without crushing herself. She started sliding nervously down the pole, but just as she reached the bottom…  
Snap!  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
The creature had her by the neck! She gasped for breath as it dragged her upon the bridge and for the first time, she got a good look at the monster that was now squeezing the life out of her. It was a woman just like herself. She had what looked like a 1400-century outfit on and uneven hair that was put up in a bun. Her face was covered with scars and scratches, and her eyes were filled with a murderous craze. Her thin, chapped lips formed into a smile with madness written all over it. She licked her long, sharp fangs as her grip on the woman began to tighten. Then with her free hand the monster gently touched the woman's face.  
"What beautiful skin you have… I use to have skin like that. Why don't you come with me? Why, with your blood and soul, I can be beautiful again."  
The grip began to tighten, and the creature took out what looked like a lighter; however, when lit, her entire hand went up in flames. The monster seemed unaffected by the blaze and began to put it dangerously close to the woman's face.  
Then, from behind came a very timely "Hey!"  
The creature flinched to the voice behind her. Not letting go of the woman, she slowly turned her head to see a young man standing on the other side of the bridge. He had dirt blonde hair and light blue eyes and wore an orange button shirt over a green-yellow rock shirt and khaki pants. The only part of his outfit that didn't look like a Boy Scout uniform was a gold chain around his neck with a lightning-shaped charm in the middle. The monster looked at the boy with hungry eyes as she licked her lips once again.  
"More blood for my beauty!"  
The boy smirked. "Oh, is that right?"  
The monster growled with dislike; the fact that this boy was so cocky didn't sit with her well. As almost to answer his question for the creature a second voice was heard.  
"Lady, you need more than a bucket of water and plasma to make even a blind person think you're beautiful."  
The monster turned again and on the other side of the bridge stood a girl with white hair so long it almost covered her face, wearing a long, sleeveless black turtleneck sweater with leggings and boots to match. She was so small you'd probably think she was 9 or 10 if it wasn't for her moderate-sized breasts. The fact that this girl was acting even cockier was making the monster even more confused and angry.  
"She's right you know." The boy spoke with no hint of fear whatsoever. "Even a blind man can tell by the sound of your voice that you're not human… at least not anymore."  
This boy is just stalling now, the creature thought. What can he possibly do to me? She took a step back then remembered the girl at the other end. She was trapped.  
The boy spoke again. "You know what that means, don't you, Rizzo?"  
He referred to the girl on the other side. She was in the middle of putting her hair up into a ponytail when she heard her name being called. When she was done, the girl known as Rizzo jumped up, did a back flip, and landed on the other side with the boy.  
"Yes Zeus, I do."  
Her hair was still quite in her face, but thanks to the pony tail, the monster was able to get a good look at one of her dark blue eyes. Her pupils were strangely lightening-shaped, and the fact that she had the smile of a maniac didn't help her nerves much.  
"It means that this hag is no long a human but a Kishin. And it's our job to rid the world of such things… by taking their souls!" And with that, Rizzo raised her leg as if to kick the boy known as Zeus; it stopped right in front of his face. But Zeus didn't even flinch - instead he took hold of her leg, and Rizzo started to glow a bright blue. Her body shape-shifted, and as the glowing stopped, what used to be a mini teenager was now a very large and very sharp ax which, to Zeus, was as light as a feather.  
"Now then," The boy spoke as if nothing unusual had happened, "Countess Elizabeth Bathory de Ecsed, also known as The Bloody Countess; your days of serial killing are done!"  
The monster, still with her captive in hand, made a run for it.  
"Zeus, she's getting away!" Rizzo screamed.  
"Not for long," He replied cooly.  
Zeus jumped along the rails of the bridge, running at top speed. He leaped on to a nearby tree and from there to a building. The moon seemed to watch with excitement as the boy started to race over the roof tops, gaining on the Kishin in the streets below. The creature noticed this and made a sharp turn to an alleyway. Zeus jumped off and followed the evil soul into the darkness. The creature was now in a state of panic; she knew who these people were, and she knew that she didn't stand a chance… but with every turn she just couldn't shake off the little brat.  
Finally she came to a dead-end and, with nowhere else to turn, she played the only card she had left.  
"You take one more step, and I'll kill her!" The monster shrieked. She took out her lighter and again put it dangerously close to the woman's' face, but the boy just smirked. The kishin hated it when he got like that. 'Why is he so damn cocky?' …then she saw it. The axe, it was gone. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back, or rather, in the shoulder blade. Pain surged through her arm, and then it felt numb. She looked over her shoulder to see her newly decapitated arm and blood positively gushing out of the once-occupied socket.  
Rizzo was standing on the roof, just above the creature. An unconscious woman lay in one of her hands, and a bloody axe was attached where her other hand should be. She lay the woman down, and after she did, a second axe appeared to replace the other hand. Rizzo stared at the monster for a moment then jumped from where she stood. With her axe-hands, she blinded the poor beast in one swoop.  
"HHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" the kishin screamed trying to stop the bleeding coming from her eyes. Rizzo landed gracefully next to Zeus turning back into her full weapon form. Zeus took hold of the handle and ran towards the kishin.  
SLASH!  
Zeus delivered the final blow. In one fatal swipe the creature was destroyed and in its place was a floating red orb with a glow that reflected all of the monsters' past deeds. Rizzo, now back in her human form, snatched the soul in her hand and held it close to her face. Her lightning-shaped pupils began to glow a bright white, as if lightning had struck right in front of her face, and the kishin egg began to shipshape until it too resembled a lightning bolt. Zeus watched as it left her hand and disappeared into her eyes.  
"I know I've said this before, but… how do you do that?"  
Rizzo turned to Zeus, her eyes back to normal.  
"There's a reason they call me the soul gazer." She turned her attention to the unconscious woman still lying on the roof. "Is she dead?"  
Zeus closed his eyes for a moment. "No, just fainted in the excitement."  
"Good. Can you imagine what Lord Death would say if we came back with a dead body?"  
As usual, you're as cold-hearted as ever, Zeus wished he could say to his weapon. Instead, he walked toward the wall. "Help me get her down, would ya?"

LATER…

Zeus and Rizzo were in the town-square of Nyirbator. A fountain stands in front of them and their eyes are both fixed on the watery surface. Zeus reaches out his hand and lightly places his finger on the water's surface. The ripples dance as he recites the chant, "42-42-564, whenever you want to knock on Deaths door."  
The ripples take a life of their own, as the waters' transparent outlook disappears. Now in its place is a portal to a room that looks like, what many people would naïvely interpreted, as heaven. It didn't look like paradise or anything, but from the inside you could hardly tell it was a room. The walls just seemed to go on and on with never-ending clouds. Suddenly, a very flamboyant and cartoony figure stood before them. He looked like something a second grader would draw to interpret Halloween, wearing a black robe that covered every inch of his body and a skull mask that looked like it was also cut out by a second grader.  
"HI!"He said cheerfully, "How's it going? How's the weather where you are? Did you catch the Kishin you were after? Hmmm?"  
"Fine, a bit foggy, and yes, yes we did." Zeus answered.  
"GREAT! Great! Well, according to the records, that makes your 99th Kishin soul, and you know what that means!"  
"Yeah, it means one more soul and I'll be a full-fledged Death Scythe!" Rizzo said with overwhelming excitement.  
Death seemed a little taken aback. "Yes… but you do know that what you need isn't just another Kishin soul, right?"  
Rizzo face got serious. "Yes sir, I understand."  
"You'd better!"  
A voice rang out from behind Lord Death; Zeus tilted his head to see a full-grown Soul Eater enter the death room. He wore a Hawaiian t-shirt over a plain white tee, and worn blue jeans.  
"It took your landlady a lot to make me into a Death Scythe; I'm not going to hand over the job to someone who doesn't deserve it," The soul Eater said sternly.  
Zeus seemed slightly annoyed. "Are you saying we didn't work for this?"  
"No, I've seen Zeus do enough. What I'm saying is that before I became a Death Scythe, I had to learn a lot more than you learn in your everyday classes…"  
Zeus interrupted him, "Don't worry sir! Rizzo promised to work harder in her classes as well as our missions. Isn't that right…Rizzo!"  
Rizzo was looking at a hotdog stand when she heard Zeus.  
"Yeah," she shrugged "whatever."  
"OK!" Lord Death said, trying to get back in the conversation. "Now, as I was saying, to make your weapon into a death scythe you must catch 99 Kishin souls and 1 witches' soul. I must warn you though, catching a witches' soul is extremely difficult! It's about 10 times harder the catching a Kishins', and even more dangerous. I will remind you that the school is not responsible for any deaths related to the missions handed out to the students."  
"Don't worry, Lord Death," Zeus reassured him. "As a meister, I will not allow harm to come to innocent souls. That includes me and my partner."  
"Getting noble, are we?" Rizzo implied while getting uncomfortably close to him.  
"N-NO! I-I just pointed out that, should we get in any near-death situation, as your meister, I would take any measure to insure your, a-and my, safety."  
"Yeah right, I know what your true intentions are! Save the girl the first chance you get, then as soon as we get back, give me some punch and tell me you're a zebra! Well it's not going to work! My guardian raised me into a good girl, and I'm not going to let some little pervert ruin that!"  
"You can't ruin something, that's already a mess," Zeus retorted.  
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!"  
"Nothing, just that if you had any thought of intimidating me I would let you know that, being a meister, I wouldn't think twice on replacing you as my weapon."  
"Ha, you wouldn't know what to do with yourself."  
"Yeah I would! I was fine before you, and I'll be fine without you!"  
"Oh, you were fine alright! How did we meet again? Oh yeah. YOU were in a dumpster and I was in an alley, trying to beat those muggers whom YOU were trying to challenge."  
"That's it! This partnership is over!"  
"Oh, no it's not."  
"I MEAN IT THIS TIME! Ever since we became partners you do nothing but criticize me and blackmail me into your evil schemes!"  
"First of all, I hardly call planting that super-sized Venus flytrap inside the professors' lab the day before he retires evil… it was more like a goodbye present. Second of all, ever since we became partners you've been saying you'd leave me for another weapon, and ever since I've been waiting patiently, but you never go through with it!"  
"Well I am this time!" He turns to leave as Soul mutters to Lord Death, "I wonder if they remember that we're still here?" The water portal fades to black, and Death turns to his weapon. "One thing's for certain… their fight with the witch is going to be one to remember!"

THE NEXT DAY…

"I can't believe you talked me into coming back," Zeus said begrudgingly.  
"Don't act surprised, we've been through this before, and each time you always come back."  
Zeus and Rizzo sat at an outdoor café in none other than jolly old London. The people at the other tables looked at them suspiciously. Zeus tried to figure out why and asked, "Why are they all staring at us?"  
"Not us, me. They think I'm a witch." Rizzo said knowingly.  
Zeus looked at her in shock. "But you don't look anything like a witch!"  
"Neither would an actual witch that's trying to blend in!" She retorted. "There have been a lot of things happening around here lately, things that couldn't be done by a human or kishin soul alone…"  
"Hey wait, why are you the one answering the questions? I'm the meister!"  
Rizzo raised her head to the sky. "Oh great watchers, readers, or listeners that are currently watching, reading, or listening to this moron, please don't be angry at him! He just feels insecure about me and my superiority!"  
"N-no I don't!" He said in his defense, "And who the hell are you screaming to? YOU'RE GOING TO ATTRACT ATTENTION!" He stopped dead as soon as he realized how many people were staring at him. Rizzo turned to him. "Nice."  
Zeus sat back down in his chair and casted a dirty look at her. "As I was saying… all of the witnesses say that behind each attack is a woman dressed in pink, and every time the disaster is over, the woman would raise a glowing orb above the chaos and chant 'Scarab! Scarab! Beetle! Beetle!' Or something like that."  
"Please… that would have sounded a lot more interesting coming from my mouth," Rizzo murmured. Zeus was about to say something when Rizzo continued, "So what? Are we supposed to look for some Barbie dressed in pink?" Zeus tried to answer but instead was cut off again. "Oh that's right you can use Soul perception, can't you?"  
Zeus had given up. "Yes," He sighed.  
"Great! That makes this job so much easier!" She got up from her seat and grabbed Zeus by the hand, running at top speed.  
"WAIT, WE HAVEN'T PAYED THE BILL!" Zeus yelled in protest. Rizzo was running so fast that she barely noticed when they bumped into a figure in a cloak. It seemed to be a girl. "Sorry!" Zeus apologized as Rizzo dragged him on. The girl looked after them and smiled.

"AHHHHH! THIS PLACE IS SO BORING!" After their wild escapade around town involving Zeus being dragged by Rizzo against his will and Zeus using Soul perception for hours on end in every nook and cranny of London, the two teenagers now looked tired beyond recognition. It was dark, and the moon was as happily creepy as ever. Per usual, Zeus was complaining. "I thought you said weird things have been happening here."  
"I said a lot of things that couldn't have been done by a normal soul have been happening. That's all the report said. Don't blame me!"  
"I'm not blaming you," Zeus said with exhaustion in his voice.  
Rizzo looked up to the grinning moon above. "At this rate, I'll never be a Death Scythe."  
Zeus stared at her with pitiful eyes. "Hey, we're not done yet. I took a vow as a meister to make you a Death Scythe, and that's exactly what I'm going to do," Zeus proclaimed, trying to raise her sprits. It worked, and Rizzo looked at him with determined eyes.  
"Yeah!" Rizzo exclaimed excitedly, "NO ONE'S GOING TO SAY ZEUS AND RIZZO NEVER TRYIED! RIZZO DIZZO!"  
Zeus smiled at her sudden eagerness, and Rizzo smiled back, but then Zeus's smile faded as he suddenly froze up. She looked at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"  
He didn't look at her. Instead, he simply pointed to something. Rizzo looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a cloaked girl… the same girl that they bumped into a couple of hours ago.  
"Hi!" the girl said cheerfully.  
Rizzo, not knowing what to do, answered her awkwardly. "Uh…hey."  
The smiling girl reached into her cloak and pulled out a glass orb. "My name is Demeter, and this is a gravity ball," she said while playing with the ball in her hand. Rizzo watched as the orb seemed to defy gravity and swim in her palm. "I'm selling them to tourists, such as yourselves."  
Rizzo stared in awe. "Wow, how does that work?"  
Demeter then slipped the ball back into her cloak, completely ignoring Rizzo's question. "Would you like to buy one?"  
"Depends on how much it costs." Rizzo said, still mesmerized by the mechanizations of the graceful gravity ball.  
"Rizzo don't!" Zeus intervened.  
Rizzo froze upon hearing Zeus's voice. "What?"  
"I just… I don't think you should buy that," he explained. "Besides we have to focus on finding the witch!"  
Rizzo stared out at him with a look of sheer annoyance. "…OH, fine!" she turned her attention back to Demeter. "Sorry, we are busy right now." Zeus was now walking towards the other side of the street and Rizzo commenced to follow him when all of a sudden….  
CRASH!  
A car came zooming past, an inch away from Zeus's face! It would sound pretty minor, that is, if the car were attached to the road! The vehicle smashed into a nearby building, sending shards of glass in every direction. The two of them looked in the direction of the flying car and were shocked at what they now saw. Farther down the street, in the process of tearing up a one story building was a 6 foot long, 3 foot wide, green-colored jewel beetle. Zeus shook off the shock of nearly being killed by a gigantic flying insect and turned around to see that Demeter had disappeared.  
"Where did she go!" Zeus asked with haste.  
Rizzo knew what they had to do and got his attention. "Zeus!"  
Rizzo once again raised her leg towards him. He grabbed it, and Rizzo turned into an ax as soon as she felt his touch. Zeus charged for the bug then leaped and slashed the insect in half. The beetle's guts spilled out onto the concrete as it fell to the ground on its back; one of the legs was still twitching. Zeus landed some meters away and stared at the defeated creature, wondering if the witch who probably summoned this thing and the girl who had tried to sell them the gravity ball were connected in any way.  
"Zeus!" Rizzo's voice snapped him back into reality, just in time to dodge another beetle coming towards him. It was at that time that they realized they were surrounded by the insects, all of them 1000 times the size they were meant to be. One by one, he began to cut through their easily penetrable exoskeletons. Both Zeus and the ground were painted with their green blood. Zeus was breathing heavily; he didn't know how much more of this he could take, and they still kept coming. Zeus killed each and every one of them, but more came, and more, and more, and more, until…  
"AHHHHH! OOF!" A massive beetle, even bigger than the others, grabbed the tired meister with its mouth and flung him into a nearby building. Glass poked into his flesh and he fell to his knees out of exhaustion.  
"Zeus!" Rizzo turned back into her human form; she held Zeus's head as if she was holding a newborn.  
All he could mutter was a broken "hm", and they both looked up to see the cloaked Demeter riding the monster beetle that had attacked Zeus.  
"Wow that was easy," she gloated. She removed her cloak and they both got a good look at the obvious witch in front of them. She wore a pink dress that matched her pink pigtails, and on her head she wore a golden headdress with a crystal orb in the middle, similar to the one she wore around her neck, and just like the 'gravity ball' from earlier. "I thought that taking out a couple of DWMA students would be more of a challenge… I guess I was wrong." She jumped off the beetle and walked over to the fallen Zeus making him face her. "Still, what you lack in fighting, you make up for in looks. It would be a shame to hurt such a handsome face…" She barely had time to say anything else before Rizzo sent her flying with her axe hands. Demeter, however, was saved by her beetle pet, and was quickly back on her feet. Blood ran down her check from where Rizzo had struck. Demeter merely smirked.  
"How interesting, a weapon who can use soul authority; begs the question though, why do you have a meister holding you if you can easily fight on your own?"  
Rizzo was growing angry. "None of your business, that's why!"  
"Is it so you can use Soul Resonance?" Demeter asked coolly.  
"I said it's none of your business now shut up!"  
Demeter grew more amused with each reply. "Or is it because you feel that a weapon should have a meister, because it's proper?"  
"SHUT UP!" Rizzo charged towards Demeter, her axe hands ready to strike. Demeter dodged the attack with ease, leaving Rizzo open for a hit. The beetle-witch took the opportunity and used her magic to make normal-sized beetles dig out of the ground and hold Rizzo down by her feet. The weapon screamed upon feeling the creatures scurry up her legs. Out of desperation, she tried to move her feet only to find them glued to the ground. "AHHHHHHHH! GET 'EM OFF! GET 'EM OFF! GET 'EM OFF! GET 'EM OFF!"  
Demeter could only laugh maniacally. "Now, to finish you off!" She raised her hands towards her headdress and began to chant; "Scarab, scarab, Beetle, beetle… scarab, scarab, beetle, BEETLE!" A scarab-shaped metal plate appeared on her left arm. She charged towards the grounded Rizzo, who tried to fight back to the best of her ability. Just like in Zeus's former predicament, Demeter's attacks just kept coming, and Rizzo had run out of options. It wasn't until Demeter delivered her finishing move did the beetles binding Rizzo's feet to the ground finally let go, allowing her to be thrown 10 feet into the air. She finally landed next to Zeus, who was conscious, but still too weak to fight… or to move for that matter. Nevertheless, he managed to put his arms around his fallen partner and then started speaking to her with a broken voice that tried to sound comforting. "Hey, Rizzo, remember the day you and I met?..."  
Zeus walked the streets of Death city, still wearing his usual orange button shirt over a Rock shirt and khakis. In fact, the only thing missing was the lightning chain around his neck. He looked tired, as if he had been running errands all day, which he had. He didn't know what the deal was, why couldn't everyone run their own damn errands? Why did they always have to come to him? Why didn't he stop them? But he knew the answer to that: his half-brother. Even after twenty years, no one could ever forget the loser of the school… no matter how forgettable he actually was. That's why Zeus came to the academy, to prove all of them wrong! But look how that turned out. Here he was, walking home from school, doing things other people were too lazy to do themselves.  
'No!' he thought. No way was he going to fall down the same path his brother took. He was going to be a great meister! He was going to finish the dream his brother never lived! He was going to prove the people at his brother's funeral wrong! …But how?  
All of the sudden, there came a crash of breaking glass from a nearby store. Hidden in the shadows, Zeus decided to investigate. Three men stood in an alleyway; one was holding a stick, the other was holding a half-broken bottle, and the last was trying to pick the lock to the back door. The man picking the lock was mumbling to himself. "Come on, come on… got it!" The door swung open. "Alright!" the second guy cheered silently, "We're in!" The third guy spoke up. "Right, get the bags and grab as much dough as possible, before any meisters show up." The two bums complied and started raiding the store. Meanwhile, Zeus watched this crime scene with excitement. This was his chance! His chance to finally be recognized as the warrior he was! If he could stop these guys then maybe, just maybe, he could have his chance to be not as worthless as his brother had been. He grabbed a nearby rock and started for the door. Zeus threw the rock as hard as he could and it hit the second guy's forehead. The man toppled over, but wasn't knocked unconscious like Zeus had planned. The man got right back up on his feet again with a now bleeding forehead. "Hey kid!" The man said, "You just found yourself a good way to die!" Zeus made a dramatic pose as he cockily explained himself. "I don't think so. You see, I'm Zeus, named after the god of lightning. I'm also an official student at the DWMA, meisters division, and as a proud member of Lord Death's Academy, it is my duty to stop you! Prepare to be defeated!"  
All the thieves could do was stare until one of them spoke. "So wait, if you're a meister, then where's your weapon?"

Zeus was pinned against a wall outside the store, with a broken bottle put to his throat. "I'm not usually into eating souls" the burglar holding the bottle smiled, "but for you, I can make an exception!" The two other guys came out of the store holding full bags. "We got 'em!" They exclaimed. "Great!" the third guy said, before turning back to Zeus, "you guys go on ahead! I'll take care of the brat." Zeus shut his eyes, preparing to take his last breath. 'This is it!' he thought to himself. He would never find a weapon, he would never prove himself to the academy, and he would always remain in the shadow of his brother and his shame… to his dying breath. But then something happened then that neither he, nor any of his capturers, intended.  
The man holding the bottle suddenly fell to the ground with an 'oof!' and was rendered unconscious. Zeus opened his eyes to see if he was dead yet and was appalled at what he saw. There, standing over the comatose man, was what Zeus could only describe as a snowy haired, miniature yeti of some kind. He couldn't see a face; just hair, two black legs with feet, and the thing that scared him most - two things that could be blades hanging from its' arms. The other two bums were staring at the creature, terrified. When it turned to them, they took a step back, and then it spoke. "Why do you like picking on people smaller than you?" The men could only shake in fear. He wasn't sure, but Zeus could have sworn that under all that hair was the psychotic grin of a female. This theory was proven as she took a blue rubber band and pulled back her mane, revealing a beautiful yet still half-hidden face. She continued to talk to the boys as if she didn't notice their horrified expressions. "What's wrong? I'm much smaller than him so, why don't you play with me?" she suggested. The guy who picked the lock earlier was now holding a pocketknife, trying to look menacing. "GO TO HELL, YOU FREAK!" The girl only looked at the blade before raising hers. "LET'S PLAY!"  
The man charged at her, his knife poised to strike. She easily dodged the hostile attack and grabbed the man by the arms with the tips of her blades. She then twisted his arms to the point of agony before finally letting in order to handle the other punk who was coming at her with a stick. She once again moved out the way before he could hit her; only this time, instead of using her sharp hands, she saved herself the effort by just kicking him in the nuts. The man fell to the ground while the other who was now holding on to one of his arms as if it were going to stop the pain, came at her with his fist. She simply knocked it out of the way before hitting him in the back of the head with her axe hands. By this time the one with the broken bottle had regained consciousness. Instead of attacking the weapon, he decided to be a coward. "COME ON GUYS, LET'S BAIL!" he commanded. The two other men followed him into the night, but not before one of them yelled, "YOU'LL GET YOURS, YOU SADISTIC BITCH!"  
The girl only stared back at them, a blank expression on her face. Finally, when the bums were out of view, she flipped her hair a little and turned to the boy sitting on the floor. Zeus had never seen anything like it… a weapon using soul authority? As far as he knew, weapons could only fight when in the hands of a meister. Then Zeus remembered the stories of the legendary Justin Long, the death scythe that could use soul authority. So he supposed it was possible…then he got it. Only a very powerful weapon would be able to do something like that. Was this girl… was it possible… that she was… a death scythe? He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he hardly noticed that the girl was standing over him now, leaving him with nowhere to run. "Hey." She said simply. Zeus winced, but she seemed pretty sane now. "I said hey!" She repeated, annoyed.  
"Oh, uhh… hey."  
She looked sideways, awkwardly. There is a silence until… "Are you… hurt?"  
"What? Oh…no. Wow, that was… amazing!"  
The girl lost interest in him almost at once.  
"I try."  
That's all she said before turning away, but Zeus couldn't let an opportunity like this pass. It was obvious now that she was not a death scythe, but that just made her all the more incredible.  
"Wait!" He stabbed at regaining her attention.  
The girl took a glance at him. His voice was stuttering.  
"W-what's your name?"  
Zeus could tell that she was hesitant, like she didn't know if it was safe to give him her name or not.  
"Rizzo," She said finally.  
"Rizzo?" he repeated. "Like grease?"  
"Rizzo like the rat," She snorted. "Who are you?"  
"I'm Zeus." He tried to get up by using a nearby trashcan as a support, but it was unstable and he dropped back to the ground with a thud. Rizzo laughed.  
"Are you ok?" she asked reaching out her hand.  
"Yeah," he said, chuckling a little himself. He took her hand in his and she pulled him up.  
"So… Zeus like the god?"  
"Sort of," He said, embarrassed.  
"I can see that." Rizzo smiled smartly. "So what's a god doing running around the streets of Death city?"  
"Oh well you know…stuff." He blushed.  
"Yes, well, maybe you could do your 'stuff' back at my place."  
"W-what?" It was his first time being invited to a house… by a girl.  
"If you don't want to that's fine. I mean, you can take a chance at going home by yourself and run into those punks again," She said teasingly.  
"No! No, its fine!" but Rizzo was barley paying attention now.  
"Nah, now that I think about it, Ms. Albarn probably wouldn't be thrilled if I brought a boy home."  
Zeus's eyes lit up suddenly. "Ms. Albarn? Like, as in THE Maka Albarn?"  
"You like the word 'like' a lot, don't you? But yes, that's the one; she's my aunt."  
"Really?" Zeus asked feeling overjoyed.  
"Yeah…" She said slowly, regretting ever mentioning her landlady.  
'So that explains her amazing skill,' He thought to himself. He returned his thoughts to her proposal. "Can I stay over?"  
Rizzo smiled. "Sure! So long as Ms. Albarn will let me. And even if she doesn't, I'll find a way to sneak you in." Zeus couldn't help but smile back. 'She looks so cute!'  
Rizzo put her hair down as Zeus followed her out of the ally. When they got to Ms. Albarn's apartment, Rizzo was lectured for two hours, and it took another two hours to convince Ms. Albarn to let Zeus stay. The next day was Saturday, and with no school, Zeus and Rizzo spent the entire day together. Zeus did most of the talking; he told her of his quest to become a great meister in his brother's place, and of his father who remarried after his first wife died. He told her of the man who claimed he would never become a meister, and that if he tried he would come out no better than his brother. Rizzo patiently listened to his stories, adding her own tidbits here and there. She laughed when necessary and said sorry when necessary. By the end of the day, she knew everything about the god of lightning. They started home when Rizzo suggested they go somewhere special. After the fun day they had, Zeus easily agreed. She led him to the battlegrounds of the academy. At the very edge was a cliff with a perfect view of the city as the sun went down.  
"I used to come here and play when my guardian and Ms. Albarn would talk," she reminisced. She sat on the ledge and beckoned Zeus to sit next to her. "They would sit right here on this ledge, while I went around and pestered any student who came close."  
"What happened to your guardian?" Zeus's curiosity got the better of him.  
"He's far away from here."  
He didn't say anymore on the subject. There was a silence.  
"Why did you ask me here?" Zeus finally asked.  
Rizzo stood up and stared down at the still sitting boy. "Wanna dance?"  
"What?"  
"I need to get farther into the academy if I want to become a Death scythe."  
'Is she sleepy?' Zeus thought to himself, 'she can't be thinking straight.'  
He stood up beside her. "But… this isn't a dance academy. You know that, right?"  
"Do you think I'm an Idiot?" her sudden attitude surprised him, "I've been here long enough to know what kind of school this is!"  
"I'm sorry," he apologized. But she carried on as if she didn't hear him. "I need to get farther into this academy, but to do that I need a partner. Not just any partner…but a dance partner!"  
Then Zeus understood. He didn't know what to say. Didn't they have to go through an official sign-up sheet or something? Was it really this easy?  
"B-but I can't dance," was all he had to say. He realized how stupid it sounded.  
Rizzo just smiled. Zeus was relieved to see her face lighten up a bit. Then the world turned upside down when she took his hands in hers. He blushed deeply and the blush broadened when she pulled him closer to her. He could feel her warm breast against his chest; her scent was so sweet smelling… he thought he could just die! As he was on the verge of a nosebleed, she leaned over to his ear and whispered:  
"I can teach you."  
She then pulled away and reached into her pocket, retrieving a gold chain necklace with a lightning- shaped charm in the middle. Zeus now got a good look at the weapon's eyes, whose pupils were the same shape as the charm. She placed the necklace around his neck and he took a moment to stare at it.  
"So long as you wear this, you and I are connected. Like every typical meister and weapon pair. But so long as you wear this, everyone else will know it, too."  
She took a step away from him and put out her hand. "From now on you are my dance partner, and as long as you wear that, it's going to stay that way. I am to match your movements, and you are to match mine. Zeus, God of lighting, and Rizzo his lightning bolt!"  
Her declaration was more than Zeus could bear. He looked at her outstretched hand; he didn't know what he was about to get himself into, but he knew that with this weapon he would become powerful. Plus, at this point he really wanted to see if he could get any further with this girl. After a moments' hesitation he gingerly took her hand. She smiled. The sleepy sun was reading his bedtime story, about a boy and a girl, who at that moment, became the keepers of lightning.

Blood stained Zeus's shirt. He was breathing heavier by the completion of his story. Rizzo lay under him, completely still, showing no signs of consciousness; He snuggled closer to her.  
"After that, I thought everything was going to change, and it did. We were so close, Rizzo; everything we wanted was just a few steps away. But the witch is still alive. You and I still have a chance, I know it. This can't be over yet…"  
Meanwhile, Demeter was standing on her largest beetle yet, watching the boy embrace his weapon. "Oh please," she said to herself, before ordering the beetle to move closer to the students. "So are you guys going to fight me some more, or can I have my beetles eat your souls now?"  
There was only silence. The two seemed frozen. Demeter waited awhile for an answer, and then grew bored of their unresponsiveness.  
"Fine," she said finally.  
The large insect lifted its leg and Zeus and Rizzo stayed where they were. Then something happened that almost defied the possible. Zeus, while still holding Rizzo in one hand, used the other and grabbed the giant beetle by the leg. At first, Demeter didn't understand what was happening. Then she let out a piercing shriek. "W-what, what are you doing?" Demeter whispered almost to herself.  
Zeus looked in her direction; his eyes glowed with a sudden power that seemed to reach Rizzo, who got to her feet and lifted her leg for Zeus to grab. In a single motion, Zeus pushed the beetle away with such a force that it flew a distance of two football fields. When it finally landed, it was lying on its' back, dead. Demeter fell to the ground with a thud; she quickly got to her feet and stared at the display in disbelief. Zeus stood on top of the steaming carcass, his eyes still filled with a powerful pulse. In his hand he held a large, sharp, two- bladed ax that filtered an electrical charge that surged through both of their bodies. He looked at Demeter who was reluctant to look back; she wasn't frightened, more like in shock with a hint of awe. Demeter only had a second to prepare herself before Zeus charged at her at the speed of lightning. She blocked his attack with her shield which made their blades lock together before he pushed away and attempted another blow. They locked blades at least four times, each time weakening Demeter a little more until Zeus finally got a hit that sent her flying. She tried attacking him in mid-flight, but was pushed away even further than she would have been. Regardless, a huge grin came over Demeter's face. "You are probably the most annoying guy I've ever met… I like that about you. We should go out!"  
He didn't answer her. Instead he came at her again, and she happily did the same. They were in close combat, something Demeter seemed to like more then she should have.  
"Come on! That weapon can't be all that fun to be around. Stop teasing me and let's have some fun!"  
That was it. Demeter had left herself open and Zeus released Rizzo who now wielded her ax hands. Demeter was hit so hard she went flying into a nearby rock and she started coughing up blood. The fight was over; Zeus and Rizzo had won.  
"Fun's over," Zeus commented. He took a moment to breathe. Rizzo however headed to where Demeter had landed. She looked at the witch for a moment, and then the witch looked back and started giggling. "That was fun! But I think I better pick up my toys before I go home."  
The orb on her headdress glowed again; as it did, all of the buildings and dead beetle bodies disappeared. The street was now empty of its' former chaos.  
"You… you fixed everything!" Rizzo exclaimed, shocked.  
"Of course!" Demeter explained, "That's the fun of it all!"  
"You mean, all this time we've been fighting nothing?"  
"Except for me. You really did fight me."  
"But how…?"  
Demeter pulled out the gravity ball from before, and ignored the question.  
"Normally, someone has to be holding one of these in order to experience the full effect, but it seems that just by looking at it you were under its' spell." Demeter smiled.  
"I am so taking your soul!" Rizzo raised her ax hands but before she could do anything, a sharp light started emitting from Demeter's headdress. The next thing Rizzo knew, the witch was flying away on one of her beetles.  
"COME BACK HERE YOU WHORE!" she cried.  
"Rizzo let her go," Zeus sympathized.  
She looked with disappointment at her technician before sighing and turning back to the sky.  
"DAMN BITCH! IF I EVER SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN, I KILL YOU!"

THE NEXT DAY

Zeus and Rizzo were walking up the very long steps to the DWMA; there was a silence between them - not the awkward kind, but the pure stable kind that made it seem there was nothing to say. However, Zeus had something clear on his mind he was desperate to share. "Rizzo?"  
"Yes?"  
"What Demeter asked back there, about you not needing a meister… is that true? And if it is, then why do you have me?" he clutched his necklace.  
Rizzo stopped walking and looked him strait in the eye.  
"I need someone."  
Zeus didn't understand until she put her hand on his chest. He blushed greatly.  
"If I'm going to have the pleasure of being a Death scythe, I want someone to share it with."  
He felt her face getting closer to his; instinctively, he closed his eyes. After a moment of nothing he opened them to see Rizzo continuing her way to the academy. Disappointed, he followed her. When they finally reached the top, a horrifying scene awaited them. There, standing in a school uniform, was no other than Demeter. Zeus felt Rizzo's soul grow angry, and it showed. Suddenly Demeter noticed them and waved happily.  
"Hey, guys! Look, I'm a schoolgirl!"  
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Zeus yelled, confused.  
"Well I think it pretty obvious; I joined up!"  
"Yeah right, they'd never let a witch join the academy!"  
"Oh really?" Demeter showed them her school ID. "See? I'm an official student of the DWMA! Isn't it great? Now we can hang out together and you won't be able to kill me!" She tackled Zeus. "And now, you and I can get to know each other better," she said very seductively. Rizzo was on the verge of exploding. Before he knew it, Rizzo had her axe hands out and was charging head-first at them.  
Later that evening Zeus, Rizzo, and an unknown woman with blonde pigtails sat around a small table. The woman's expression was hidden, Rizzo was looking rather blank, and Zeus was tense. Something was about to happen that seemed to occur quite frequently. Rizzo was the first to speak.  
"So… you hear about that new movie about the-"  
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" The blonde woman exploded. Rizzo looked unaffected by it. The woman breathed heavily, and then Rizzo spoke, "I don't know what you mean."  
"You know very well what I mean! How could you get yourself suspended AGAIN!"  
"I have a strange way of expressing myself."  
"DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP! WOULD IT KILL YOU TO SHOW A LITTLE SELF-CONTROL?"  
"Yes."  
"Your guardian never had this problem!"  
Rizzo seemed to be getting angry now. "When are you going to get it through your head that I'm not my guardian?"  
"WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD THAT YOU'RE CLOSE TO GETTING EXPELLED!"  
Zeus tried to settle them down. "Hey, so what's for dinner Ms. Albarn?"  
"I AM CLOSE TO THROWING YOU OUT OF THIS HOUSE YOUNG LADY!"  
"GO AHEAD! ILL JUST GO LIVE AT ZEUS'S PLACE UNTIL YOU BEG ME TO COME BACK!"  
"AND WHY THE HELL WOULD I DO THAT?"  
"'CAUSE MY GUARDIAN – "  
"YOUR GUARDIAN OWES ME IN WAYS YOU CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO IMAGINE!"  
Rizzo stared at Ms. Albarn for a bit before saying anything. "Ok. By all means, enlighten me."  
Ms. Albarn stared at her for a moment, and then sighed before turning to Zeus. "You have school tomorrow; Go get some homework done before dinner."  
Zeus obeyed and walked off to his room. Ms. Albarn turned to Rizzo.  
"You are going to take a bath and get to bed before 7:00; no dinner tonight."  
Rizzo stared angrily at her, and then she got up roughly, marched off to her room, and slammed the door. Zeus thought to himself, "I don't think she deserved what she got but at least I can have her plate tonight."  
End.

A princess who wished to be loved… a popper who wanted to be known for his love. But when their worlds' collide, will they have the power to take out the most dark of all witches? Or will they fall into the world of sadness and madness forever?  
Next time on Soul Gazer:  
The princess and the pea.  
Enter, the wielder of the thief wipe.


	2. The princess and the pea

Soul Gazer

Episode 2

The princess and the pea,

Enter the wielder of the thief wipe.

A sound soul.

Duels within a sound mind

And a sound body.

Legend tells of the great Grim Reaper, the lord of the departed, the God of Life… as well as Death. He and his comrades known as the Eight Powerful Warriors were the keepers of all things innocent and orderly in the world.

Probably the most skilled and talented of the Eight was the dark weapon wielder, Asura and his weapon partner Vajra. Yet as time went on, the Eight began to realize how fragile Asura's soul really was, though they said nothing. Eventually, Asura himself began to realize this and tried with all his might to make himself and his weapon stronger.

He began to take the souls of humans and giving them to Vajra in his sleep. Vajra became suspicious as he noticed his growing vulnerability to madness, as well as Asura's, but when he confronted him about it, Asura betrayed him and swallowed his weapon form whole. Enraged by his weapon disloyalty, Asura went into a rampage. The Eight tried to stop him, but he ended up killing three of them and wounding the rest. Finally Lord Death had to step in. though the battle was long and hard, Death became victorious over Asura, and locked him in a sack made of his own skin. For 800 yrs Asura remained in this sack made of skin, until a foolish Witch set him free once again. Fortunally, during those centuries' Lord Death opened the DWMA, an Academy for those who opposed Asura and the demons he created known as Kishins. One of the occupants of this school was Maka Albarn, the first star scythe Mister, who led a team of Misters and Weapons too victory over the King of Kishins. However before he was defeated, Asura vowed that one day he would have a successor and the world would be in gulfed in madness once again… that was twenty years ago. What about now?

Lord Death: LET'S FIND OUT!

She was never worried. She has never been truly worried up until that day.

"Wesley! Gordon!"

She called for her brother and cousin from the porch only to hear nothing but the hens in the yard and the gentle crow of a raven upon the roof of the barn. It's been hours since they said they would go play in the barn, and it was getting dark. Their mother would be home soon. What if something had happened to them? Her hands began to shake, she knew she had to go in there and look for them, but an invisible force had stopped her, a force that could only be described as one thing… fear.

The girl continued to stare at the barn; she had only taken a step when she saw a car pull up. She tried to come up with a story to tell her mother until she noticed that car was unfamiliar to her, it was much more… refined. It certainly looked more advanced than her mother's car. The front door opened and out stepped a beautiful young woman with a fancy, purple, jumpsuit that was at such a length the girl had only seen in the weird magazines her brother owned, and kept hidden. By this time the sun had already went down, and the grinning moon was starting to rise. Yet, the woman's hazel-nut hair, that was cut to shoulder length, still shined with great luminosity.

"Hello," the woman said cheerfully, "are you Jessie Clark?"

"Y-yes." The girl quivered. The woman merely smiled.

"Then I have a favor to ask of you."

The girl looked at the woman in fear, but she merely just smiled.

Meanwhile

Gordon didn't know how it started; all he knew was that he couldn't stop. They didn't know it, but he betrayed his whole family just with that first time. And though it pained him every day, it brought him a sense of joy every time. Just to see the red liquid explode out of them like candy out of a piñata. It came to the point where the pain of guilt stopped and pleasure of committing it increased. And now, now he felt nothing at all. After this his family would know, and he would be free to do whatever he wants, just as soon as he disposes of this last annoying insect he was forced to call family. And now his opportunity had arrived; he knew his cousin would have no reason not to follow him to the barn, no reason not to give complete trust; oh, how he would pay for it. Now, with his little cousin pined to the ground, Gordon would have the chance to shed the mask he wore for his family, and show the face of the man he really is, the person he always wanted to be. The face of the killer… the monster inside.

"…Gordon…," his cousin gasped, blood stained his face with injuries from resistance, Gordon merely smiled.

"Don't worry Wesley; we'll see each other next summer. Until then, let's go down the lake, Ill race you…" It was at this point that Gordon grabbed the butcher knife that lay next to him, but just as he was about to raise it…

Knock, Knock, Knock.

The door of the barn went. Gordon looked up from his soon to be victim.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

The door sounded again. Gordon looked down at his bloody cousin before getting to his feet and whispering:

"Now you keep quiet cousin."

Wesley just lay there, petrified in fear as Gordon walked towards the barn door. Gordon knew who it was by the first knock, when he opened the door he saw his littler cousin standing a few feet away, trembling. Gordon smiled, the more the merrier.

"Hello Jessie! Would you like to come in? I and Wesley are having so much fun!"

Jessie didn't say anything, she just stood there shacking.

"Come on Jessie! It's cold out here; it's warm in the barn!"

He smiled at her but she still said nothing.

"Are you scared of something Jessie? It is pretty dark out here. Why don't you come inside with us? If we're together, we will be safe… from fear."

A grin dripping in madness smoothed its way across Gordon's face. The raven upon the barn began to crow more furiously. Jessie backed away as he came toward her, gripping the knife behind his back.

"Don't worry, Jessie. Once the fear is gone, we will be happy! We can play by the lake and over by the docks all we want, and no one will stop us! NO ONE!"

Gordon's hand came out from behind his back. The knife gleamed in the moon light as it loomed over his cousin; who, for some reason, could not seem to move. She ended up tripping and landing on the ground. Now, with her unable to run, Gordon took this time to whisper his last words to her…

"Let me take away your fear… Jessie." He poised his hand to strike as the raven screeches were at their peak.

Whhhhapam!

Both Gordon and Jessie gasped, for around Gordon's wrists was a black, leather/steal, triple whip, that came from behind and left his arm numb at first; before blood began dripping from the wrists. He released the knife, letting it fall harmlessly to the ground, but the grip of the whip did not cease. Instead, it began to pull on Gordon's arm, making him arch his back to the point of agony. It was only when he fell to the ground did the whip let go of his wrist, only to be wrapped around his waist and thrown to a nearby tree. The sound of steps coming towards him snapped Gordon out of the pain long enough to look up at his attacker. Right in front of him was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had the face of an angel; a hazelnut haired, cup D, brown eyed, scamp dressing angel. Her bangs curled in a perfect curve to match the perfect curves all around her body. In her hands was a long, black, whip with a diamond encrusted handle, and the end still wrapped around his waist. His surprises soon turn to anger, as he raised himself up, ready to fight.

"You bitch!"

The whip, seeming to take a life of its own, let go of Gordon's waist and positioned itself to strike at the woman's command. "You should have stayed down, and then at least this would have been quick."

She charged at the boy with the Kishin soul, but he dodged the attack just before the head of the whip could scar his face. With a skip of his feet, he grabbed the knife off the ground and proceeded towards Jessie. With a screech Jessie covered her eyes, if she had kept her eyes open for another second; she would have witnessed the whip land in front of Gordon and punch him, as if it were a hand. Gordon landed on his back as the whip came back around and grabbed him by the torso. The woman slammed him against the barn door, the raven fluttered a bit from the vibrations, but settled back upon the barn roof. After the impact, he started to cough up blood, yet still he managed to get up. Finally he heaved…

"I-I know who you are! Y-you're with the academy! Y-y-y-you're here to kill me!"

The brunette looked despicably disappointed at him.

"I thought you would have known a bit more about me. Oh well, I guess I can't be the center of attention all the time." She chuckled but stopped as she noticed the boy chuckle with her. Her face became serious as Gordon shape began to change. The knife that was in his hand began to morph all around his body, pretty soon his fingers had inhumanly long claws where nails use to be. His mouth stretched into a wide grin complete with monster like teeth. It was at this point that Gordon's chuckle turned more into a psychotic laugh. It wasn't awhile before he calmed down enough to speck. The raven continued to screech with glee.

"I don't care who you are! You are just another human to me! Someone's always trying to take away what I want! Well, right now all I want to do is play with my cousins, and no one is going to stand in my way, especially some whore from grade school!"

While all of this was being said the young woman's expression did not change, she just kept staring at the boy, as if thousands of year's worth of anger and hatred were targeted toward this one human she was staring in the face. Jessie, on the other hand, was petrified. It was at that point that Gordon said the words Jessie was unfamiliar with, but the woman knew all too well.

"Now, GIVE ME YOUR SOUL!"

At that the boy jumped in the air, aiming his claws towards them. The woman grabbed Jessie by the waist and pulled her away from the attack, she then used her Whip to lunge herself and her captive on to the roof of the barn. The raven flew to a near tree as Gordon emedently charged for them, claws open and hungry for blood. The woman slashed the whip against the roof before throwing the end toward the monster; it wrapped its self around his neck and held him high above the barn. The boy thrashed back and forth, unknowingly tightening the whip around him, blood poured down his neck as he fought for air. The woman closed her eyes in disgust, a part of her wanted to have pity for the boy, a part of her wanted to stop, but another part of her, a stronger part, knew what must be done. Jessie however, had no part inside her, and was already spilling multiple amounts of tears and sobs.

"STOP!" she cried, pulling on the woman's arm. "PLEASE STOP! PLEASE STOP HURTING MY COUSIN!"

The woman looked at her with pity, one look in her eyes and Jessie could tell that what she was doing was tearing her apart. There was a silence between them that was only matched by the screaming of the boy and the sounds of the night. Finally, the woman looked down at the whip in her hand.

"You heard her Scylar." She said quietly, "drop him."

At that moment the majority of the struggling stopped, as if the whip had heard her, Gordon was dropped. It was only a few seconds, but to the two females on the roof it could have been hours. Finally, there was a thud, Jessie looked down in horror, and the woman just stood there, her hair glowing in the moon light. The raven's sounds stopped.

Later

After awhile, news of what was happening reached all corners of the small town; it wasn't before long that the police and ambulance arrived as well as Jessie and Wesley's mother who was currently holding Jessie for dear life. Gordon's body was covered with a blanket while Wesley was being pulled into the ambulance. A man with a police uniform and badge was talking rather harshly with the woman from before.

"So this is what Death intends to do? Take the lives of children?"

"This boy has been on Lord Deaths list for the better part of two years." The woman answered. "The academy's mission is to rid the world of evil were ever it is purged, whether if it was the life of a child or that of a 90 year old man, students must do what is necessary to protect the innocent."

"Innocent? INNOCENT!?" The police man pointed toward the ambulance, "That boy was innocent! And what about her?" he pointed to Jessie who still was in shock. "She will never forget what has happened here tonight! Because of your influence, you have scared her for life!"

The woman was silent so the man continued.

"If it wasn't for you she could have been spared this! Since when does your academy allow children to be put in danger?"

There was silence again, and then the woman spoke.

"I had no choice. I needed to lead the Kishen away from that boy. If I didn't they both could have died."

Silence again. The man shock with frustration, but couldn't find any words to say to the female in front of him. The silence was broken when the sound of footsteps came from behind the brunette.

"Nicole."

She turned around to see a tall, slender male wearing a black leather jacket over a blue shirt, his jeans torn. His hair was greasy, and black and it hang in his face. His bluish/green eyes were warm and mysterious, and his smile was to die for.

"We are ready to leave."

She nodded.

"Thank you, Scylar."

Nicole turned back to the police officer.

"If you have any further complaints you can take it up with the academy consultants," she turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Nicole looked at him sternly and he fell silent again. She once again turned to leave, as she did she got a strange feeling, a feeling she had had before. As she was walking she glanced behind her. Of course. The officer was now staring, red faced, at her rear.

'Pervert.' She thought to herself. A Nicole opened the door to her car and proceeded to drive away with Scylar riding shotgun. The raven sitting on the tree took flight and disappeared into the night. They weren't 5 miles away before the whip began an attempt at small talk.

"So, seen any good movies?"

"…"

"I saw how that cop looked at you, his voice sounded angry, but in the end, his eyes gave him away."

"…"

"The guy's probably a single man in his forties living with his mother," he chuckled, "the creep."

"…"

"You hate me right now, don't you?"

Nicole sighed. "Scylar, it's not you I hate, it's just…"

"Just my weapon form."

Silence. She spoke first.

"Scylar, please don't put that on me."

"You said that the whole thing could have been easy," he watched the other cars as they passed by. "But you lied, with a weapon like me; there would have been no easy way to kill him. face it, your father thought this thru, with me as your partner, there would be no easy way to take a soul, and that would make it all the harder for you to…"

"QUIET!"

The car took a particularly sharp turn, and silence fell over the car once again, both parties had no expressions on their face, but more than enough in their minds. After some time, Nicole spoke.

"Scylar, you know me better than anyone, even my own father. You know that I'm not going to give up my freedom, no matter what. No matter what, I will make you a Death scythe, I promise."

He looked at her for a second then smiled.

'Whatever, you'll feel better in the morning.' He turned his attention back to the window.

"Hey," he turned back to her when she spoke, her eyes not leaving the road. "Did you hear that rumor? It's all over the academy, about the witches?"

The next day.

It was a normal day at Death Weapon Mister Academy, with boys and girls all hurrying to their classes, some however stayed behind in the halls to chat about various things: resent missions, celebrity gossip, movies, TV, internet, and whether or not Lord Death is allowing witches to attend the school now.

"I can't believe it! We have been fighting witches since the beginning! Why is Lord Death allowing this?"

"It's kind of weird though. I mean, there are as many girls here as there are boys, anyone of them could be a witch."

"I heard about this guy in my class, who dated this girl, who had this friend, who face booked this guy, who was going out with a witch who went to our school."

"Really? That so cool!"

"I heard somewhere that a witch uses to even work here, as a nurse!"

"Wow. That must have been creepy."

"There was once this Witch that even lived here!"

"No. It was two!"

The only students, who didn't seem to be participating in the gossip, were a certain blond haired, Boy Scout who was ease dropping on the millions of conversations, and a miniature Yeti who was reading a manga, not paying any attention to the people around her, until the boy spoke to her.

"I use to think that these kinds of talks were exciting. Now they're kind of childish, don't you think?"

"I Think they are childish too, that's why I reading about Sailor Moon."

"Did you just… rhyme?"

"Rhyming, it's true, that what I do."

"OK, why rhyme?"

"Rhyming is cool. Rhyming is key. Rhyming is why I have to study for period #3!"

"Oh, that's right, we have writing 3rd period… wait! Why are you reading a foreign comic book then?"

"The word is manga, as I recall." She shifted in her seat. "And I find it much funnier then boring study hall."

"You're hopeless." The boy stated as the girl continued.

"Besides we have no reason to talk of such completers, we already know a witch by the name of…"

"HI!" a cheery voice ringed in the classroom and ran up to the boy and girl. It belonged to a pinkish/purple haired girl with thick pigtails that stick out at all ends. She wore a white school shirt with a pink skirt and a black belt, and around her shoulder was a pink bag with a purple beetle on the front. She grabbed the boy by the neck a started bear hugging him. "Hi Zeus!" she glared at the white haired weapon. "Rizzo." She snickered.

"…Demeter." Rizzo finished with a frown. Demeter stared lovingly at Zeus as she practically strangled him in her arms.

"Zeus, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me on my first mission as a student. I have to go to a haunted house and its ssssooooo scary, I don't want to go by myself!"

"You realize that If Zeus goes without me, he's going to get himself killed." Rizzo stated, her eyes not leavening the manga. Zeus glanced an ugly look at her.

Demeter turned to Rizzo, obvisely annoyed. "Big talk, coming from 4th grader."

The white haired girl merely shrugged. "At least I don't have the chest of one."

At that, Demeter tried to pounce on Rizzo with Zeus holding her back. Rizzo jumped out of her seat, ready for anything.

"It's not even 1st period and your already in a fight."

The two girls turned around as Zeus lost his footing, and landed on the ground with a thud. Nicole and Scylar stood there behind them looking over the younger students. Unlike her previous, all too revealing outfit; today Nicole wore cotton, navy skirt with a white shirt similar to the one Demeter was wearing, only where Demeter's covered her whole chest, Nicole's showed off her "girls" to the point that Zeus got a nose bleed and fell back to the ground. Demeter holds a confused look on her face, though in reality she was this and irritated. 'No one can make Zeus like that other than me!' Rizzo was beside these thoughts. She completely ignored Zeus's perverted mind and Demeter's angry scowl. Instead, she fixed her eyes on Nicole who looked at her for a second before returning her eyes to Zeus. Scylar, seeing all of this, spoke first.

"We heard you two caught a witch the other day."

"Yeah we did!" Zeus burst with pride.

"But then, you let her get away." Nicole finished.

His pride vanished; Rizzo kept staring as Nicole continued.

"We just came by to remind you to be more careful."

"Oh, Yeah." Zeus said confused.

Nicole motioned Scylar that they were leavening but not before looking at Demeter.

"You shouldn't be wearing something like that; it's for girls with bigger bust. Try the normal uniform." Demeter covered her chest as her face grew a dark red. Zeus looked after they puzzled.

"What was that about?"

Rizzo stared at the door where Nicole left, a blank expression on her face.

Meanwhile in the hall…

"Well that was completely pointless." Scylar muttered as he and Nicole headed for the older classes. "Now we're going to be late, why did we stop to talk to them? Their two grades lower than us."

"I just wanted to see them, that guy's weapon had taken 99 Kishen souls before they went after that witch."

Scylar stared at her for a moment before smiling.

"Oh, I see. You want to size up the completion." He chuckled.

"Just one more. That's all we need, and then I can face a witch." Nicole said to herself before the speakers were heard.

"Will Nicole pit and Scylar john please report to the Death room? That is all."

"Well, what do you think HE wants?" Scylar asked. Nicole didn't answer.

Later, in the Death room…

"Hey! And how have you two been?"

The bouncy character waved at them as they entered the Death room.

"Good morning Lord Death! How are you?" Nicole said cheerfully with Scylar at her heals.

"Oh, just fine!" Death answered in his usual pitched voice. "I heard you managed to collect another Kishen soul the other day! That makes 98; one more and your weapon will be eligible to become one of my own, personal, Death Scythes!"

"Yes we are both very excited, aren't we Scylar."

He nodded but did not answer.

"Well, I'm sure that this is the time you get it right. As I remember correctly, you often put human souls in danger because of your ruthlessness." A voice sounded behind them. They turned around to see a huge Jamaican, blue man wearing a basket ball uniform. "How many times have I seen you walk through these doors after being so close to your goal, only to see your souls confiscated because of some danger you put people thru?" Sid, the zombie, walked up upon the steps towards Death and the other two. "Even in life, I was never that irresponsible. By the way lord Death, we got a call from Mira Loma, California. Something about suing for the death of a love one as well as property damages."

"Is that so?" Lord Death said as he stared down Scylar and Nicole, who at this moment were as scared as hell.

"You wouldn't have anything to do with this would you? After all you just came back from Mira Loma, California, didn't you?" he started at Nicole, who began to back away towards Scylar, who blushed at first when she pressed her back against him. Then, taking advantage of the situation he wrapped his arms around her, while taking in her scent.

"REAPER…" Lord Death said in a booming voice. "CHOP!"

Nicole ducked as Scylar got the full force of the chop, landing several feet away from her and the (as the Japanese refer him) Shinigami.

"You ok?" Nicole asked him.

Scylar raised himself from the ground. "I saw my entire life before my eyes..."

She helped him stand before Lord Death addressed them again. "You better get your act together before your deadline. You don't have much time, Nicole."

She looked at him with a face full of sorrow before a shot of determination flickered in her eyes. "Sir, I beg of you, gives me another chance to prove myself. I swear, I will not disappoint."

There was a silence, at which Death and Nicole stared at each other, wrapped in an unspoken conversation. "Fine." He said "If you are able to catch this last soul successfully, without bringing any danger to innocent humans, then I will allow you to be one step closer to your goal."

She smiled. "Thank you, sir." She and Scylar turned to leave, while Sid walked further towards Lord Death. Death waited until the woman and her whip had left before addressing the zombie. "You had something else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes." Sid lowered his gaze. "It has happened again."

"Same place?"

"Yes."

"Hm…" the Dean of the academy was lost in thought until Sid interrupted.

"Uh… sir?"

"Hm?" the Death god agnoleged.

"Are we… to do something about it?" again, It was awhile before Lord Death answered.

"There are only so many times we can ignore, how much evil is beyond the yore. So much more than before, has the balance of things been tore. But all we can do is fight till we sore, only this and nothing more."

"Sir?" a confused Sid asked. "Did you just… rhyme?"

"You know what?" Lord Death exclaimed, completely ignoring the zombie. "Why don't you get those kids back in here, and while you're at it, make me a sandwich. I skipped breakfast."

Later…

The day was cloudy. You could hardly tell night from day. In the large city of Baltimore, Maryland, on the corner of a small suburban street, stood a small brick house with three windows and a door. The red brick that held the house was clean of mold or decay, for this house belonged to no particular person… alive.

A few miles away stood a tall building decorated in holy relics. It was a church no doubt; a large church that held a large clock tower that was covered with stain glass windows on every wall. Cars passed by the holy sanctuary in indifference, and some in fear. One car however, pulled over to the side of the street. The car was beautiful and more refined then other's that passed by. The woman who stepped out left young men staring on the other side of the street.

"So." She said, as her partner closed the car door behind him. "This is where they had all been found?"

Scylar nodded. "Yes, two weeks ago thirty people went missing, they were all found in cemetery of this church… dead but not buried."

"Creepy." Nicole stated as she looked around the chapel. She turned the corner to see the very edge of the grave yard. Scylar followed her as she made her way to the back of the church. Several stones lay molded to the ground, some that stood right up and others that were more or less to the side. The grass under their feet was wet with dew. The whole place looked more like a garden then a cemetery.

They heard flapping in the distance and hid behind a particularly large tomb stone as the sound grew louder and louder. Suddenly, Scylar spotted something in the sky. It looked like a large, black, bird at first. But then, the two saw that it was a man; a man attached to two black feather wings. Only when it drew closer did Nicole notice that the man was far too young to be a man at all. He was a boy, a child; or teenager at least. He landed a few yards away from them, his face covered by his large, dark wings. A horrifying sight lay before them as his wings spread out and his form was reviled to them. He wore expensive cloths that were covered in dirt, his hair hung in his face as he and the duo looked at what he was holding. There, in his arms, were four to five bare, dead, bodies. Nicole couldn't tell if they were male or female, adults or children, all that was certain was that they had been beaten beyond recognition.

"… who?" Scylar started to whisper to himself more than his partner. "…Who could have done this?"

"I don't know." Nicole answered, her eyes fixed on the winged man. As if she could have seen this man before.

"Come on." She ordered suddenly as they carefully made their way towards the man bird. They safely reached a near tree that was close enough to hear what the boy was saying. He murmured a few words that Nicole could not decipher, before he looked to the sky and his whispers became chants.

"Tis some visitor I mutter," he said in a voice that was familiar to Nicole, but she could not grasp. He lowered his head slightly. "Tapping at your chamber door;" his eyes fell upon his victims. "Only this," he whispered as if to comfort them. "…nothing more."

The two partners were bewildered at the boy's words. No doubt he was overflowing with madness. How deep it was; Nicole wanted to find out.

"Ah," he said a hint of understanding in his voice. "Distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,  
and each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor." He looked to the sky as his voice became louder. "Eagerly I wished the morrow; vainly I had sought to borrow from my books surcease of sorrow, sorrow for the lost…"

He gasped suddenly. The partners were clueless as to what had made him react this way until they heard a second flapping, quicker than the first. Then, out of nowhere, a black bird landed on a tomb stone a few feet away from the winged boy. He stared at the bird in fear and anticipation. Nicole now recognized the boy. She couldn't believe it, it wasn't possible, yet there he was holding broken bodies right in front of her. She had to hold her mouth from the chances of being discovered. Every drop of her will power was needed to keep herself quiet. Skylar was the next to notice, he was equally surprised, but could not contain himself as Nicole had done. Instead he uttered one word before turning into a whip and settling himself into Nicole's hands.

"…Gordon?"

Meanwhile.

He hated this show…

"Fighting evil by moonlight, Winning love by daylight,"

He REALLY hated this show…

"Never running from a real fight, she is the one named Sailor Moon!"

Every day, after school, while Ms. Albarn was off with Soul Eater; completing missions he and Rizzo had no hope of surviving, his partner would run off to her room and return with some particular season of this god awful anime with the blandest characters he had ever had the misfortune of viewing.

"She will never turn her back on a friends, she is always there to defend,"

Whenever they were not on a mission, or at school, or working at their separate summer jobs, or wrapped in random conversation, Rizzo would be watching, reading, or dreaming about this Japanese crap from hell.

"She is the one on whom we can depend, She is the one named Sailor... Sailor Venus! Sailor Mercury!"

What did she see in this show? Was it the talking cats? No, she hates cats, even Ms. Albarn's cat would bring out the worst in her animal taste.

"Sailor Mars! Sailor Jupiter!"

Was it the mysterious love interest? God he hoped not. Was it the bug eyed girls in sexy sailor outfits that somehow helped them defeat evil? How did that even work? Did they seduce the monsters with their outfits? That's the lamest way to die! Those are the lamest monsters that are defeated by their own hormones!

"With secret powers all so new to her, she is the one named Sailor Moon."

And that song! That stupid, stupid song! It didn't even sound right in Japanese! It's a stupid show with stupid characters and an even stupider plot! This was a con! A HUGE CON!

"Fighting evil by moon-"

"STOP!" Zeus yelled out in frustration. Rizzo ceased her dancing and singing as the song on the TV continued. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

She glared at him. "We agreed that you can have the laptop at any time if I could have the TV at any time."

"Yeah," he retorted. "But I never agreed to the shopping, the protests at DVD stores, or the cosplay!"

suddenly the door opened reveling a middle aged woman with deep green eyes, blonde hair in ponytails that reached down to her back, and a long, black, trench coat that covered a white shirt and a blue skirt. Though Maka Albarn did not have the same young look in her eyes as she did twenty years ago, she still had that spark that made her soul strong. She had a smile on her face as she walk in on the two teenagers with a pizza box in her hands.

"Zeus! Rizzo!" she sang cheerfully. "Good news! I stopped by the Knights Pizza Place and got you some stuffed crust pepperoni pizza to celebrate all your hard work!" she stopped suddenly, surveying the **scenes** that lay in front of her. Her smile disappears.

"Ok." She's sighs. "What are you two fighting about now?"

"She's watching a stupid show and won't let me do my homework."

"OH, you always pull out that one!" she yelled.

"Rizzo." Ms. Albarn said calmly

"Yes?"

"Did YOU finish your homework?"

There was silence before Rizzo pouted in saying, "No."

Meanwhile, in the cemetery.

"…Gordon?"

The word barely escaped from Scylar's lips before he turned to his weapon form as the reaction of Nicole clutching his arm tightly. She stared at the boy who was oblivious to her gaze; who she had thought to be dead by her hand, was now alive and looking frightfully at the raven that was perched on a tomb stone close by. Nicole studied him more closely; she could now see that the boy was not as 'alive' as she previously thought. He was a shell of his former self; you could see bone in places where flesh should have been. Was he a zombie? No, Sid was a zombie, and although Nicole had never met him when he was alive, she had been told that his life and life after were pretty much the same. This however was different; she knew that whatever was inside Gordon, whatever was making him stir was not the soul she had taken. Several seconds passed but it felt hours. Finally Gordon, starring still frightfully at the bird, spoke in a voice no louder than a whisper.

"Sir or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, That I scarce was sure I heard you."

Silence, nor the boy or the raven spoke. Nicole gripped tighter to Scylar's handle, waiting for the opportunity to act. After a moment the boy spoke again, this time louder than before.

"Surely that is something at my window lattice; Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore!  
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; Tis the wind and nothing more!"

Silence again. With every passing moment Gordon's face seemed to become more and more strained, as if some invisible person was yelling at him; but there was only the raven. Gordon spoke again an octave louder.

"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou art sure no craven. Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore! Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's plutonian shore!"

And at that, something happened that made Nicole's blood run cold; something that could not have happened in a world such as ours, but here it did.

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

Gordon let out a loud shriek that quickly turned into a maniacal laugh. He raised his head and faced the sky as drops of rain began to pore, wetting his pale face. His laugh grew louder as his face began to change into a large black beak that matched the now crowing ravens. Nicole couldn't take it anymore. She made herself known by revealing her whip from behind the tree and striking it towards the raven. The bird flew slightly in the air but never retreated from the scene. Gordon stopped laughing but his smile never faded, he seemed happy to see Nicole; but she could hardly return the feeling. She repeatedly strikes at the bird who avoided the attacks with ease. Her eyes began to dart in all directions. Scylar was scared for his partner. Never before has madness resulted in this change of her behavior. She became obsessed with catching the bird rather than the murderer.

"Nicole? NICOLE!"

Gordon began to chant nonsense again.

"Much I marvel this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore; For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door. Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door, with such name as Nevermore!"

Nicole took more shots at the bird, though her efforts were futile. The seventh time however, the bird retaliated, and flew towards the struggling girl. He flew right threw her and into her soul that blackened at contact.

"NICOLE!" Skylar shrieked in terror as his partner was engulfed in black feathers. Gordon's talk merely continued.

"Other friends have flown before. On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."

Meanwhile, inside the soul of the poorly taken Nicole, a lovely woman in a purple jumpsuit and hazel hair stood alone in a long hallway. The only other being that was seen in the hall was a small black bird on the opposite side of the woman. The two creatures made no eye contact with each other; instead the woman began to speak.

"Nevermore. what it utters is its only stock and store, Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore." She chanted this but unlike the boy made no change of expression.

The raven began to glow a bright gold as its shape began to change; its body grew larger, It feathers became flatten and long as they seemed to merge together. Before long, a girl, a bit smaller then Nicole stood before her in a long black cloak that covered her face. The brunette could see blonde locks under the hood, but nothing more. She spoke again.

"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou, art sure no craven. Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore. Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's plutonian shore."

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

"Wretch!" the woman retorted. "Thy God hath lent thee. By these angels he has sent thee Respite. Respite and nepenthe from thy memories. Quaff, oh quaff this kind of name, and forget this lost Nevermore! Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's plutonian shore!"

Quoth the raven, "Never-nevermore."

"We cannot help agreeing that no living human being ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door, with such name as Nevermore." Nicole pressed on.

The girl under the clock said nothing but was obviously shaken by the woman who demanded her name.

"Prophet!" the woman shrieked "thing of evil! Prophet still, if bird or devil! Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted! On this home by horror haunted! Tell me truly, I implore!"

Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"

The brunette sighed. A silence fell the room before clocked girl finally spoke.

"An anthem," she said "For the queenliest dead that ever died so young. A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young."

Silence as the girl in black continued.

"For her, the fair and debonair, that now so lowly lies, the life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes the life still there, upon her hair-the death upon her eyes! Avaunt! Tonight my heart is light. No dirge will I upraise, but waft the angel on her flight with a paean of old days! Let no bell toll! Lest her sweet soul, amid its hallowed mirth, Should catch the note, as it doth float up from the damned Earth. To friends above, from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven. From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven. From grief and groan to a golden throne beside the King of Heaven. Tell me, is she the name you implore?"

Quoth Nicole, "Nevermore."

Minutes passed before the raven flew out of Nicole, crowing in fright and excitement. Said woman was snapped back into reality as a surprised Gordon shook furiously.

"Good to have you back." Scylar called triumphantly.

"Good to be back." She answered with a smile.

"Wretches!" Gordon cried towards them, as the raven flew away, and abanded him. "Ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride, and when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her that she died! How shall the ritual, then, be read? the requiem how be sung By you, by yours, the evil eye, by yours, the slanderous tongue That did to death the innocence that died, and died so young?"

He said no more. Nicole stationed the whip in her hand and flung the head towards the undead killer. The whip once again separated down the middle and resembled a hand that lunged towards Gordon with open fingers. It went inside the winged mans torso and pulled out a raven, much like the one that had flown away from the scene just awhile ago. He fell dead, as the raven twist and turned, trying to break free from the whips grasp. Scylar's grip tightens as the bird suffocated under his hand. Eventually, the raven went limp, and a second later, a scarlet soul was left in its place.

Scylar's human form had returned, as he took the soul in hand, and claimed what was his. Nicole did not take her eyes off of Gordon's body whose fell amongst the victims that he had claimed that very night. She could not stop thinking of the girl who had appeared before her soul and if her real, true, name was that of Nevermore. She knew it wasn't true, for as she had stated before: 'we cannot help agreeing that no living human being ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door. Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door, with such name as Nevermore.'

The next day

"Ok, I get it; my love for Sailor Moon is getting in the way of your sanity."

"That's right." Zeus replied, thinking that last night's ordeal might have gotten the point across.

"And, you would like for me to cut back on the watching of old anime." Rizzo said barely looking at him.

"Well, yeah, sure." He explained. "That would be nice."

She paused for a moment "Ok." She walked ahead of him a bit.

He jogged to catch up with her. "R-really?"

"Yeah." She answered. "Ever since Toonami came back, I can get all the old anime I could get in a week."

It was a Thursday morning at the DWMA. The halls were hardly lively at 7:56am, and the first star E.A.T students knew that if they didn't arrive for class at exactly 8:00, they would face the wrath of the gods; Zeus and Rizzo knew this as well, yet they marched as quickly as they could straight to the second star E.A.T class, where two, lifeless, older students sat, keeping to themselves.

"Knock knock." Zeus's voice sang as he and Rizzo walked over to the two heaps of flesh that had yet to acknowledge their existence. Ever since the events of yesterday, Skylar and Nicole had barely talked at all; to neither anyone nor each other. The only conversation they had was last night before dinner:

"So you don't think that Nevermore was its real name?" Skylar asked after he sat hot coffee down for the two of them on the coffee table. Their living room was huge for their house was huge; it was the best home money can buy, second only to the Death mansion. Nicole took the drink in hand without looking away from her, state of the art, touch pad computer.

"No." she answered simply.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either. For awhile, I thought that was all it could say, but I suppose I was wrong."

She looked at him before returning her gaze to the internet. Of course he had heard her conversation with it. That was what being partners was all about: understanding ones soul. Though most meisters would be pleased with this, Nicole felt slight discomfort. Scylar saw this and stayed silent for the rest of the evening, they both did. And now, the silence continued as the Boy Scout and yeti waited for an answer. Finally, Nicole looked up from the book she was reading and began to stare down the one star partner.

"Why are you two here?" She asked.

"We just wanted to see how you were doing." Rizzo answered a smile on her face. "Word is you went on a mission for Lord Death himself."

"Don't we all?" She retorted, but Rizzo continued to smile.

"Of course." The white haired one sang. "But it's rare for someone to get a mission directly from Lord Death, you must be honored."

Nicole just stared at her.

"Well," Skylar started. "We got the soul and everything, but it was strange."

"Strange how?" Zeus couldn't help but ask.

"Well, for one, It seemed like target was possessed or something of that matter." Skylar said. "No, more like its body was possessed, but when we took it it like any other evil soul. I'm not sure how to explain it."

"Well," Demeter interjected, startling everyone with her presence. "The important thing is that you got the soul and the safety of world is now a little bit more balanced! Yay, world peace!" everyone gave off a sweat drop.

"Uh, how long have you been here?" Rizzo asked.

"Oh, Professor Death told me to come find you; something about too many students on the left of his class and not enough on the right."

At that Zeus and Rizzo ran out of the room at top speed, but not before Rizzo could say to Nicole:

"Hope you do well, senpii!"

"Senpii?" she questioned after they left. "What the hell was that suppose to mean?"

"I don't know some anime crap." Skylar murmured as he turned back to the black board; Nicole did the same with her poem book that she had been fixated on since that morning, she had read online about Edgar Allan Poe and the various poems he had written, one of them read:

'Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,  
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;  
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,  
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word…'

Nicole's eyes widened. "Lenore."

She was breed for evil, yet she continues to fight for good. Her partners don't understand her, and all her parents do is fight. What is an out of place witch to do? And how will a nasty goblin stand in her way?

Next time on Soul Gazer:

An academy born witch.

How short are you? Tell me.


	3. Authors note yet again

Authors note:

Humans. This Noelle la Marie of the planet awesome, I have come to give you the 411. Soul Gazer Is just as the summery says, a continuation of the anime, Soul Eater. All of the characters are inspired by the undetermined plot holes that were left of the original anime. I'm not going to give those out, but I will answer any questions regarding the story just leave them in the review and I will be sure to reply. Note that the way I answer will be determined by me. I intend not to give out spoilers; but you never know. : DAlso… I told you so! I told you I would get that next chapter! True I was a little late but still… VICTORY IS MINE! The next chapter will probably be around the holidays, sorry but I try to make everything as perfect as possible… so yeah! I do hope you enjoy this little piece of rip-off. Now if you excuse me, I'm off to find myself a goblin (hint, hint…) that is all. 


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